How Salah became an icon in Egypt
Key takeaways
- Bennett, BBC World Service in Egypt and Neil Johnston, BBC Sport journalist"Whenever I walk in here, I can't help but recall how he used to move and the way he controlled the ball.
- One of Mohamed Salah's first coaches is opening the all-new dark green gates of the youth centre in Nagrig, a village about three hours north of Cairo.
- "Mohamed was small compared to his team-mates, but he was doing things even the older boys couldn't manage," Ghamry Abd El-Hamid El-Saadany says as he points to the artificial pitch which is now named in Salah's honour.
Why this matters: a sports story that could shift standings, legacies, or fan conversations.
Bennett, BBC World Service in Egypt and Neil Johnston, BBC Sport journalist"Whenever I walk in here, I can't help but recall how he used to move and the way he controlled the ball. It was something else."
One of Mohamed Salah's first coaches is opening the all-new dark green gates of the youth centre in Nagrig, a village about three hours north of Cairo. This is where it all began for one of the world's most prolific forwards.
It was on the streets of Nagrig where a seven-year-old Salah, external would play football with his friends, pretending to be Brazil striker Ronaldo, France's legendary playmaker Zinedine Zidane or Italian maestro Francesco Totti.